Amsterdam – January 19, 2021 – ChannelEngine raises €5M Series A funding to expand its marketplace integration platform across key global markets. Funding led by INKEF Capital, with participation from existing investor Airbridge Equity Partners.
We are on a mission to bridge the gap between our customers' back-end systems and online sales channels such as Amazon, Zalando, Google, eBay, and many more, on a global scale. The current need for new solutions in the market, combined with the rapid speed at which companies are moving to direct-to-consumer (D2C) marketplace sales, makes it ideal for companies to leverage ChannelEngine's innovative e-commerce platform to scale up faster and more efficiently.
Having more than tripled the revenue in 2020 with limited funding, ChannelEngine has raised this €5 million Series to continue the rollout in Europe and expand into APAC, Russia, the Middle East, and North and South America. Also, we plan to hire 70 new employees worldwide in 2021 across various levels and roles and invest in the development of new features, marketplaces, and sales channels.
Kyang Yung, Junior Partner at INKEF, comments that "It goes without saying that the company has grown like a rocket ship off the back of COVID, although pre-COVID rates were already more than impressive. And, as brands across the globe are finally leaping to go direct-to-consumer, ChannelEngine's customer roster now also boasts some pretty impressive global brands. For us, it was the interesting market position, the traction, and last but not least, the team's deep domain knowledge of ecommerce which made us decide to make this strong, conviction-based investment."
With ecommerce currently driving more than 18% of global retail, a number increasing rapidly since the dawn of the pandemic, and marketplaces generating more than 50% of this revenue, growing towards 75%, the market is clear is heading in one direction. With new marketplaces being launched globally, this shift further underlines the importance of connecting to, managing, and integrating with a range of sales channels through one central platform. Trusted by global brands such as JBL, Bugaboo, and Staples, amongst hundreds of others, ChannelEngine is ready to claim its position as a global market leader within the ecommerce marketplace space.
Jorrit Steinz, CEO & Founder of ChannelEngine, adds, "On a global scale, ecommerce is becoming a driving force of all retail sales. Customers have shifted their search behavior for products from search engines to marketplaces. Large ecommerce players, as well as search engines, social media platforms, and comparison sites, are turning into marketplaces themselves. While this creates more sales opportunities for brands and retailers, they face the challenge of managing all these different channels simultaneously. That's why we've built ChannelEngine, a powerful Software as a Service platform that enables Brands, Retailers, and Distributors to connect, automate, and manage their sales on all these international sales channels."
About ChannelEngine
With a single powerful Software as a Service integration, ChannelEngine.com connects sellers' systems to international marketplaces and sales channels while optimizing sales, minimizing time, and maximizing profit and reach. It offers brands, distributors, and retailers automated order and return systems, an advanced management suite, and a rich partner ecosystem to bring their sales to the next level.
ChannelEngine empowers companies by creating a seamless integration between businesses and marketplaces.
About Ink
INKEF Capital is a leading venture capital firm based in Amsterdam with a proven history in backing promising early-stage companies in Europe. INKEF takes pride in being a patient, long-term investor with the ability to support companies through several funding rounds. From the early stages of being a technology or life science venture, INKEF Capital supports entrepreneurs building their ideas into successful international businesses.
